The 2025 World Superyacht Awards, organized by Boat International for its 20th edition, named the 122-metre motor yacht Kismet — built by German yard Lürssen — Motor Yacht of the Year, and the 35.5-metre sailing yacht Kiboko 4 — built by South African yard Southern Wind — Sailing Yacht of the Year, at a ceremony held in Venice on May 3.
Contents
- The 20th edition of yachting's most established prize
- The 2025 winners
- Kismet: the 122-metre German flagship
- Kiboko 4: South Africa's award-winning sailing yacht
- The judges' special awards
- Why the WSA matters beyond the yachting press
- FAQ
The 20th Edition of Yachting's Most Established Prize
The World Superyacht Awards has been organized annually by Boat International since the prize was created in 2006, recognizing the best large-yacht projects completed in the previous cycle across categories defined by vessel type and size. The 2025 edition — the 20th in the award's history — was held in Venice, a city that had already established itself as the ceremony's host, on May 3.
The ceremony brings together, in a single evening, the most discussed projects of the year among European, South African, American and Asian builders, offering a snapshot of where the segment's technical and design benchmark sits at a given moment. In 2025, that benchmark split between two very different scales: a motor yacht of well over 120 metres and a sailing yacht of just over 35 metres.
For readers outside Brazil, it is worth noting that Voguer — the Brazilian company behind this newsroom — operates both a domestic boat-rental marketplace, voguer.com.br, and an international superyacht charter brand, voguer.yachts, giving it a vantage point on both the entry-level rental market and the high end covered by awards like this one.
The 2025 Winners
Four yachts accounted for the night's main recognitions, across the headline categories and the judges' special awards:
| Category | Yacht | Length | Builder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motor Yacht of the Year | Kismet | 122 m | Lürssen |
| Sailing Yacht of the Year | Kiboko 4 | 35.5 m | Southern Wind |
| Judges' Special Award — Semi-Displacement/Planing 50m+ | Special One | 52 m | Royal Huisman |
| Judges' Special Award — Voyager's Award | Northern Sun | 50.9 m | Narasaki Zosen |
The full list of winners, with every secondary category from the ceremony, is available on Boat International's official page.
Kismet: The 122-Metre German Flagship
Motor Yacht of the Year went to Kismet, a 122-metre superyacht built by Lürssen, the German shipyard based in Bremen and known for building some of the largest motor yachts currently in service anywhere in the world. The win in the WSA's headline category cements Kismet as one of the benchmark projects among the yachts completed in the cycle judged for the 2025 awards.
Yards such as Lürssen compete every year for this kind of recognition with projects that take years to build, which is why Motor Yacht of the Year remains one of the most closely watched categories among owners, brokers, and increasingly charter operators trying to read where the top of the segment is heading.
Kiboko 4: South Africa's Award-Winning Sailing Yacht
In the sailing category, Sailing Yacht of the Year went to Kiboko 4, a 35.5-metre sailing yacht built by Southern Wind, a shipyard based in Cape Town, South Africa, that specializes in composite-built performance sailing yachts. The win extends South Africa's presence among the leading names in large-scale international sailing yachts — a segment that is historically smaller in unit volume than motor yachts, but every bit as competitive on hull and rig innovation.
The size gap between Kismet (122 m) and Kiboko 4 (35.5 m) illustrates how the WSA judges each category on its own scale: the criterion is not absolute length, but how well a project executes what it sets out to be — a large-scale motor yacht on one hand, a performance sailing yacht on the other.
The Judges' Special Awards
Beyond the two headline categories, the 2025 WSA judging panel awarded two Judges' Special Awards. The first, in the Semi-Displacement/Planing category above 50 metres, went to Special One, a 52-metre yacht built by Dutch yard Royal Huisman. The second, the Voyager's Award, recognized Northern Sun, a 50.9-metre yacht built by Japanese shipyard Narasaki Zosen — a rare appearance by an Asian builder among the ceremony's top honors.
These parallel awards often point to trends that have not yet reached the headline category but are gaining ground among the projects judges review each cycle — in 2025's case, mid-size yachts (50 to 52 metres) built by yards outside the German-Italian axis that usually dominates the prize's main wins.
Why the WSA Matters Beyond the Yachting Press
For anyone following the superyacht charter market — including the growing number of international travelers, Brazilians among them, who charter in the Mediterranean each summer — awards like the World Superyacht Awards work as a reference map: they show which yards are setting the technical and design benchmark in a given year, useful context when weighing what separates an award-winning project from the rest of the fleet available for a high-end charter experience.
Voguer will keep tracking the yacht industry's 2025 awards and boat-show season, with an eye on the builders and projects that stand out at the leading international ceremonies.
FAQ
What is the World Superyacht Awards? It is an annual award organized by Boat International since 2006, recognizing the best large-yacht projects completed in the previous cycle, split into categories by type (motor or sailing) and by vessel size. The 2025 ceremony was the award's 20th edition.
When and where was the 2025 World Superyacht Awards held? The ceremony took place on May 3, 2025, in Venice, Italy, for the 20th edition of the award organized by Boat International.
What won Motor Yacht of the Year in 2025? The prize went to Kismet, a 122-metre superyacht built by German shipyard Lürssen, based in Bremen.
What won Sailing Yacht of the Year in 2025? The title went to Kiboko 4, a 35.5-metre sailing yacht built by Southern Wind, the South African yard based in Cape Town.
What are the WSA's Judges' Special Awards? They are parallel prizes awarded at the judging panel's own discretion, outside the main motor and sailing categories. In 2025, they went to Special One (52 m, Royal Huisman), in the Semi-Displacement/Planing category above 50 metres, and to Northern Sun (50.9 m, Narasaki Zosen), which won the Voyager's Award.
Who built Kismet? Kismet was built by Lürssen, the German shipyard based in Bremen, one of the most established builders of large motor yachts in the world.
Are award-winning yachts available for charter? The award recognizes projects delivered to private owners and does not, by itself, indicate charter availability. Each yacht follows its own commercial path, set by the owner and, where applicable, by specialized charter operators.
Where can readers follow the next winners in the yacht industry? Coverage of awards, launches and boat shows in the superyacht sector continues on Voguer News through 2025, with attention to the yards and yachts that stand out at the leading international competitions on the nautical calendar.
Following the Industry's Awards Season
Voguer is the Brazilian marketplace for boat and yacht rental, with options ranging from a weekend speedboat to a large motor yacht in destinations such as Rio de Janeiro. For readers planning a future outing on the water, the catalog of yachts available for rent in Rio de Janeiro is a useful starting point.
Marketplace: Voguer
